Office 365

Microsoft CVP, Brad Anderson, takes you through the latest updates to support modern experiences across devices with Windows 10 and Office 365. In this show, Brad demonstrates cold-booting his personal, highly-managed and secured Windows 10 device in under 20 seconds. We’ll also show you new options to get to managed remote Windows sessions and apps across devices using the new Windows Virtual Desktop. And we show new streamlined management experiences for Microsoft 365 administrators as well as what you can do to set baseline protections and device configurations quickly using built-in Security Baselines in Microsoft Intune. To sign up for the Windows Virtual Desktop Preview at: https://aka.ms/wvdpreview Enable updates to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center at: https://admin.microsoft.co...

Microsoft has identified a couple of glaring issues with Exchange Online that can potentially cause customers problems. The first issue is stale permissions due to deleted user accounts, and the second is a buildup of email because public folder pointers are no longer accurate. To solve both of these issues, Microsoft has now deployed an automatic agent called the Public Folder Consistency Agent. There’s nothing customers need to do to utilize this new agent as it’s already been deployed and is currently running. Per Microsoft, it runs on the following schedule: For mail-enabled public folders, the agent runs every day to keep the MEPF updated and avoid any mail delivery issues. And stale permissions entries are checked for and removed once every 7 days.

In addition to releasing it’s Azure-based AI threat investigation and reporting tool, Azure Sentinel, today Microsoft has also announced a new managed threat hunting service for Office 365 tenants. But, unlike Azure Sentinel which relies heavily on AI, this other service for Office 365 has a deeply human component. Called Microsoft Threat Experts, the service allows companies to partner with Microsoft security workers to head-off potentially damaging intrusions. This initial release offers the following two components (with more coming): Targeted attack notifications: Alerts that are tailored to organizations provide as much information as can be quickly delivered to bring attention to critical threats in their network, including the timeline, scope of the breach, and the methods of ...

Microsoft wants your migration to Office 365 to go as smoothly as possible. They’ve spent a great deal of time working on making it a streamlined process with fewer errors to worry about. Recently Microsoft released a new Hybrid Agent public preview that is part of the Office 365 Hybrid Configuration Wizard and allows you to choose between an Exchange Classic Hybrid Topology and an Exchange Modern Hybrid Topology. Learn more about this new Hybrid agent here. Prior to making the move to Office 365, I like to give a few recommendations depending on the size of your organization and the current configuration with your on-premises Exchange environment. Here are 5 reminders: Revise Legacy Domains: Many organizations are still working off legacy domain design that goes back nearly a s...

Microsoft has had a new front-end Office app in preview since December of 2018 and the company has now brandished it a viable offering for consumption. According to a blog post announcement today… The Office app is free to use and simple to access. It will become available to users on a rolling basis over the next few weeks and will be installed automatically as an update to the MyOffice app, which comes pre-installed as part of Windows. Just search for “Office” in the search bar of the Windows start menu to open it. The app will also be available from the Microsoft Store at this link: Office The link still downloads the old version as its not been updated yet, but according to Microsoft will be updated with the new app soon. The app works with any Office 365 subscription, Office 201...

Continuing the typical cadence of Office releases, Office 2019 comes 3 years on the heels of Office 2016 (which followed from 2013, which followed from 2010, and 2007 and 2003 and so it goes). Office 2019 didn’t hit with a bang (nor a whimper) but somewhat of a ‘meh’ due in part to the fact that most of the features that would typically be viewed as “new” and “exciting” were already available in the subscription-based flavors of Office that come with Office 365 subscriptions. The only reason one would buy Office 2019 would be to pay a one-time fee and avoid the subscription. Unfortunately, that would mean new features released to subscribers would not be coming to Office 2019 users. Some aren’t too concerned over that because they wonder &...

Microsoft provides a page resource where the company manages the URLs and IP addresses that are use to service Office 365 to its customers. Office 365 URLs and IP address ranges However, Microsoft will be phasing out this resource by October 2, 2018. After that date, a new web service will be used that publishes Office 365 endpoints to make it easier for customers to evaluate, configure, and stay up to date with changes. See: Microsoft Phasing Out Office 365 URLs and IP Address Ranges Resource on October 2, 2018 Looking for an awesome, no-nonsense technical conference for IT Pros, Developers, and DevOps? IT/Dev Connections kicks off in Dallas, Texas in 2018!

Currently, Microsoft provides a web page resource that provides the List of Office 365 IPs Required to be Whitelisted. As of October 2, 2018, this resource will be deprecated (along with the XML document and RSS feed) in lieu of a REST-based web service. This new service will be used to publish Office 365 endpoints to make it easier for customers to evaluate, configure, and stay up to date with changes. As a customer or a network perimeter device vendor, you can build against the new REST-based web service for the Office 365 IP address and FQDN entries. For the latest version of the Office 365 URLs and IP address ranges, use https://endpoints.office.com/version. For the data on the Office 365 URLs and IP address ranges page for firewalls and proxy servers, use https://endpoints.office.com...

Microsoft has made available an updated PowerShell module that enhances the Office 365 administrator’s ability to manage subscriptions. The SharePoint Online Management Shell has a new Windows PowerShell module that lets O365 administrators manage their SharePoint Online subscription using PowerShell. The focus is around site collection management. Download: SharePoint Online Management Shell Looking for an awesome, no-nonsense technical conference for IT Pros, Developers, and DevOps? IT/Dev Connections kicks off in Dallas, Texas in 2018!

Depending on your company’s geographical location, there will be certain data rules that must be observed based on residency requirements and regulations. Microsoft supplies a web-based tool to allow you to determine where you company’s data might exist. Link: Where is your data located? Looking for an awesome, no-nonsense technical conference for IT Pros, Developers, and DevOps? IT/Dev Connections kicks off in Dallas, Texas in 2018!

Microsoft has made it known that in June Office 365’s build numbers will go from the current 4-digit to a new 5-digit designation. For those that just use the product, this isn’t even a blip on the radar. However, for those that utilize endpoint management products to service the PCs in the organization, this is potentially a monumental change. Some applications to perform inventory on software on PCs use hardcoded retrieval methods to identify and display application inventory information. If that’s the case, the applications will need to be updated. Additionally, even for those applications that Microsoft develops – like System Center Configuration Manager or Intune – there may be a delay in how those applications properly display the versioning. Per the ann...